For those who haven't figured it out, this comic is attempting to use gender reversal to lampoon what reportedly often happens to female attendees at other, typically-male-dominated conventions such as video game or comic book conventions - IE, the girls are harassed or maligned as not being "real" geeks, perhaps only being there for attention, etc. However it falls flat because the brony in this comic doesn't really act like a guy would be expected to act. It's a commendable motivation, but the execution is lacking. As noted earlier in this comment thread, too many guys would LIKE girls to come on to them in such a way.

Also, it's great to see you someplace other than GamePolitics. I'm a long-time lurker and haven't signed on in a long while, but I still visit to keep up with current events and people's reactions to some things. :)

OT: I'm not sure whether this is sarcasm (most likely) or reality (it'd be surprising if it was), and whether to be offended or excited... I mean, I know there's a statement about the treatment of women/"girl gamers" in here somewhere; the parody and sarcasm just feel so heavy, it just feels as if this conversation was just played straight...And if that's the case, then it truly is weird...

Gasbandit:For those who haven't figured it out, this comic is attempting to use gender reversal to lampoon what reportedly often happens to female attendees at other, typically-male-dominated conventions such as video game or comic book conventions - IE, the girls are harassed or maligned as not being "real" geeks, perhaps only being there for attention, etc. However it falls flat because the brony in this comic doesn't really act like a guy would be expected to act. It's a commendable motivation, but the execution is lacking. As noted earlier in this comment thread, too many guys would LIKE girls to come on to them in such a way.

The Brony community is indeed dominated by males (a head count of my local Brony group shows 1/3 female 2/3 male).

I imagine this comic is trying to get us to think about how silly it is to question people's motives for being at cons by reversing the gender stereotypes and getting us to think about it. T

However, I did go to my last convention as a pretty good Fluttershy and didn't get sexually harassed at all, Bronies are all pretty nice people so I just got loads of brohooves ^_^

The female Bronies I know (we don't use the term Pegasisters because why should our gender matter when it comes to being part of a fanbase) may be on the lookout for a cute male Brony to get together with, but there's only two of us girls going to August's convention and we're already in relationships!

Gasbandit:For those who haven't figured it out, this comic is attempting to use gender reversal to lampoon what reportedly often happens to female attendees at other, typically-male-dominated conventions such as video game or comic book conventions - IE, the girls are harassed or maligned as not being "real" geeks, perhaps only being there for attention, etc. However it falls flat because the brony in this comic doesn't really act like a guy would be expected to act. It's a commendable motivation, but the execution is lacking. As noted earlier in this comment thread, too many guys would LIKE girls to come on to them in such a way.

I don't know a single guy that would want a girl to come on to them in that manner...

I'm sure there are women who exploit male geek attention to promote their modelling career. There are obvious cases like some women who were at the con to promote their salon by only wearing superhero body paint and tiny patches covering their naughty bits (They had no interest in comics by their own admission) and they complained about being ejected from the con.

BUT

there is NO WAY to separate regular cosplayers from ''geeky people'' without it turning into some sort of fascist regime and futher promoting the idea that women aren't playing video games when we are. Female cosplayers should be left alone.

It annoys the crap out of me when someone sexily roleplays a character like an underwear model that I personally see to be a tough badass but I would never think of questioning that persons 'geek cred.' If they have put the time and effort into the cosplay then they must at least care about the game on some level.

Booth Babes are totally a different matter the industry needs to get rid of them to stop promoting this boys club mentality. I know you guys like them but they personally seriously make me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome (like I'm sure some oiled hunky guy in a speedo handing out flyers would make some of you guys feel). There's nothing like being reminded you aren't the main demographic in the most skeevy way possible.

Frozen Donkey Wheel2:Um. The jungle of sarcasm here is a bit difficult to decipher, but I I'm almost positive I see what you did there. And if the "petty little tit" link is supposed to showing some sexist asshole you described....I think you should read the article much more carefully. Or, at all.

Now, before every single woman reading this explodes, let me disambiguate a bit. I absolutely do not believe that every girl who attends conventions and likes "Doctor Who" is pretending to be a geek.

What I'm talking about is the girls who have no interest or history in gaming taking nearly naked photos of themselves with game controllers draped all over their body just to play at being a "model." I get sick of wannabes who couldn't make it as car show eye candy slapping on a Batman shirt and strutting around comic book conventions instead.

See? Pretty simple. Not all girls at "geek conventions" are attention seeking posers, not even most of them. He just has a problem with the ones who ARE.

I don't see the problem here.

Yes, but he also says:

I call these girls "6 of 9". They have a superpower: In the real world, they're beauty-obsessed, frustrated wannabe models who can't get work.

They decide to put on a "hot" costume, parade around a group of boys notorious for being outcasts that don't get attention from girls, and feel like a celebrity. They're a "6" in the "real world", but when they put on a Batman shirt and head to the local fandom convention du jour, they instantly become a "9".

They're poachers.

No amount of him blatantly trying to wriggle his point of view around to make it sound good will make up for this. He's just attacked some women for going out of their way to look attractive in the same paragraph as he's insulting their appearance. He's acting insulted that women are doing their best to look good and aiming for a group that they feel (correctly or not) has lower standards, while doing his best to demolish their self esteem. Can you see the problem there?

I'm just saying, it's a pretty shitty attitude when you feel that you can repeatedly insult someone just because you imagine that they have the wrong motives.

Here, look at this:

However, you "6 of 9s" out there? You're just gross. There's an entire contingent of guys in geekdom who absolutely love you, because inside, they're 13 year old boys who like to objectify women and see them as nothing more than butts and a pair of boobs to be leered at. Have fun with them, and don't be shocked when they send you XBox Live messages with ASCII penises.

"6 of 9s" is such an impossibly misogynistic term I can't even get my head around it. He's insulting women for daring to attempt to appear more attractive than he believes they are. I mean fucking hell, talk about giving people self-image issues! "Think you're attractive just because other people act like you're attractive when you make an effort to look good? Well you're not! You're just a 6, and don't you dare dream of being any higher than the level I've designated you at!".

It's just... Even if you agree that there are women who purposefully dress up for conventions in order to get attention (which I doubt anyway; for money, yes, for attention, no) even though they don't care about nerdy stuff, why does that give you the right to mock their appearance?

I know I keep rambling back and forth here, but I just stare at that article and it seems to drip misogyny, despite (and partly because) of how frequently he dips into phrases like "it's not all women" and "some of my best friends are women".

Now now, I don't plan to SFO anything today because I found this rather funny actually. Have I really got that bad a rep? Also, it's toastiest! Not toasted :P

At least you have a rep!

*sobs*

That being said, I was just poking fun, heh. I did however, have to guess on your username. I seriously could not remember if you were merely toasted or the toastiest of the toasted. After I wrote that, I had to go look you up.

Moonlight Butterfly:I'm sure there are women who exploit male geek attention to promote their modelling career. There are obvious cases like some women who were at the con to promote their salon by only wearing superhero body paint and tiny patches covering their naughty bits (They had no interest in comics by their own admission) and they complained about being ejected from the con.

BUT

there is NO WAY to separate regular cosplayers from ''geeky people'' without it turning into some sort of fascist regime and futher promoting the idea that women aren't playing video games when we are. Female cosplayers should be left alone.

It annoys the crap out of me when someone sexily roleplays a character like an underwear model that I personally see to be a tough badass but I would never think of questioning that persons 'geek cred.' If they have put the time and effort into the cosplay then they must at least care about the game on some level.

Booth Babes are totally a different matter the industry needs to get rid of them to stop promoting this boys club mentality. I know you guys like them but they personally seriously make me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome (like I'm sure some oiled hunky guy in a speedo handing out flyers would make some of you guys feel). There's nothing like being reminded you aren't the main demographic in the most skeevy way possible.

Yep, this.

Nobody gets to decide whether or not someone is `geeky enough` to be there or not. Automatically assuming that every female who plays games does it for attention is a dick move. I shouldn't have to justify my interest in my hobby.Also, it seems a little self-involved to me.You only do this because you want attention!The dudes that have said this to me just sound like they think I want their attention, which is a bit big-headed.

nodlimax:Why do people like this show again? I was basically forced to watch one of the episodes but this is even to weird for me.

It's fun to watch and people like watching fun/entertaining things?

"At cons, not only are Bronies subjected to numerous unwanted sexual advances, some critics have even questioned their motives for attending such gatherings in the first place."

This... this is a joke, right? Are there really people there who have seen bronies being hit on? This HAS to be a joke, I just cannot believe this is legit, being a fan myself. I just don't buy this to be true.